Slow Dying Flower
by Fenella Church
Summary: When Daryl was eighteen he almost became a father. Years later, just before the zombie apocalypse he is reacquainted with the girl who would have been the mother of his child.Then the apocalypse hits and they are separated, but Mary is very special and they will meet again.
1. Chapter 1

Slow dying flower.

.

Chapter One

.

The Snow Goose.

1999

-Daryl

The thick fleshy arm crushed his windpipe. 'You do as I say.'

Daryl nodded as best he could.

'You're gonna make her get rid of it.' Merle demanded. "you're 18 years old and your genes ain't worth passing on.'

Daryl squeezed his eyes tight shut and nodded again. Merle loosened his hold, and flung his little bother across the room, 'Down in town they'll suck that little piece of shit out of her in no time.'

Daryl lay on the floor until he heard Merle go out, he twisted over on his back and stared at the ceiling; his eyes leaked but he didn't wipe them, he sniffed a couple of times. Merle was right. Merle was just looking out for him. What kind of world was this for a kid anyway? It was fine for them up in the mountains but what kid wanted to live in a wilderness? No kid. These days they wanted Nintendo and those new fangled cell phones and pcs or whatever the damn things were called. Not a life spent tracking and hunting and bathing in a tin tub. It suited Daryl ok, he liked being out in the wild,it was part of him, like his heart and his liver and his lungs; the world was too fast and greedy.

.

Her name was Mary. It seemed like nearly every girl in Bentnail Creek was named Mary, but it was usually Mary-Sue or Mary-Jane or Mary-Beth. When he asked her name she said 'Just Mary ' so that's what he called her.

They had sex regularly for over a year -or irregularly really- as and when. There was this crazy attraction that cranked out of control when they saw each other. Daryl would go into town for supplies, Mary would appear out of nowhere and they'd find a quiet spot, down by the creek, or in someone's storeroom, or behind the old papermill. Once she came at him like a bitch on heat in the men's room of the gas station. They both started out virgins, which was good, it gave them equality and they taught each other all kinds of stuff, except contraception that is. So the surprising thing was not that Mary fell pregnant, but that she didn't fall sooner.

.

'You think it's up to you?' Mary stared at him; she had dark almond shaped eyes and now they were almost black with fury.

'I ain't ready for fatherhood.' he said, throwing his _running away _secret stash, a tatty bundle of ten dollar bills at her, 'You need to get rid soon as possible. Go to a clinic in Athens or somewhere...' he paused, and tried to gauge her feelings, something deep down inside him wanted her to fight for him, to say he would make a great daddy, that she could never want another man now she'd known him. That they could run away some place, start again, and be a family.

But she had just stood there staring at him like he was something icky on the sole of her shoe, 'It's not up to you.' she said, and walked away, leaving his money scattered around the dusty ground.

.

Merle decided they'd go to the shack early that year. It was good hunting ground because not many folk went that high up the mountain. When they came back down the mountain a couple of weeks later there was a right old hoo-ha in the town. Mary's Pa was running riot with a shotgun looking for the sonofabitch that had knocked up his little girl. Daryl couldn't believe Mary hadn't blabbed it was him and wanted to face up to Mary's father but Merle persuaded him not to by beating him black and blue.

'Am I ever gonna knock any sense in you?' he asked, leaning over his skinny brother, 'See all the trouble you cause? Next time you get your dick out you need to pay for it, it's simpler that way, whores take care of 'emselves- no comeback see?' he kicked Daryl in the ribs again for good measure, and slammed out of the ramshackle house.

.

A month or so later Daryl heard that Mary hadn't gone to a clinic in Athens or anywhere else, she'd gone to see old Louisa Bowers. Ma Bowers had helped the women of the town for generations, but she didn't exactly help Mary because something went wrong with the abortion and Mary nearly bled to death and ended up in the hospital. Added to that, the stress and worry of the situation caused Mary's father to have a stroke. Daryl felt bad for them but was persuaded by Merle to keep away. Even so, he didn't stop thinking about her and the chain of disastrous events that he'd set off. Mary's mom had to work double shifts at the grocery store now Mary's father could no longer work. Their lives had turned from ok to shit because of Daryl.

When Merle was off on one of his benders Daryl walked all the way into town and watched and waited to see Mary. When she got off the bus used by the college kids he felt relieved that she was going to her life hadn't been completely fucked up by him. He stepped into her path and took a deep breath.

'You okay?'

She stepped back and stared at him, checking all around to see they weren't being observed, 'You come anywhere near me again and I'll take out one of your eyes with my slingshot.' she said quietly.

He carried on blocking her way, 'Mary, I'm sorry.'

'Let me pass.' she said, pulling the slingshot from her pocket.

He moved aside and she walked on. He watched her going down the street. She didn't look back.

He bought a cold soda from the store before attempting the walk home. He could tell people were talking about him and wondered at the fact Mary's Pa hadn't picked up on town gossip. Or maybe they didn't know and were just talking about what filthy redneck trash he was- about his raggedy clothes, his self cut sticky up hair, his worn down boots, his beaten up face. Mary was right to distance herself from him, he was eighteen years old and his future was mapped right out before him. From where he was standing, it didn't look too bright.

Years Later-Just before Zombie Apocalypse

Mary.

The shop was in a side street, so Mary didn't expect it to be busy. She had contingency plans, selling stuff online, but it was good to have a base, and there was an apartment above, which meant she hadn't had to move back in with her mom, but was near enough to keep an eye on her. Mary's mom wasn't in the best of health, and her father had died a couple of years back from a cerebral embolism.

Her friends in Chicago thought she was crazy coming back to Bentnail, but Mary knew it was time, and when her mom had said Amity's Coffee Shop was up for lease, it seemed a good opportunity to make the move. She knew that deep down her smart city friends thought of her as a dumb hick, and when she'd had enough of the endless choruses of 'I'm gonna be country girl again' she gave them the finger and got on a plane.

The old Amity Coffee Shop was wooden and creaky and still smelled of coffee, even though it hadn't been in use for almost a year. Mary planned on serving coffee while her customers browsed, so she kept the retro fixtures and fittings and had an electrician in to bring them up to date. She had worked hard as the stock arrived; cushions, reed diffusers, dream catchers, punched tin lanterns, incense and burners, authentic quilts sent by the Amish. The sign above the former coffee shop now read 'Mary's Mercantile'

Everyone was small town curious, and wandered in, drank a cup of coffee, ate a cinnamon cookie and wandered out again. On opening day she took just over twenty dollars.

By the third day she was feeling apprehensive. It was past eleven and she hadn't seen a single customer. Luckily she had some online orders to pack and ship.

She was trying not to gaze desperately out of the window when she saw Daryl on the street. He appeared not to have noticed the shop and carried on by. She watched him as he walked with stealthy grace towards the main street.

'Been working out Daryl?' she whispered to herself, smiling. Life certainly hadn't treated him bad. Or maybe it had, she didn't know. But if life had been bad, he still looked good, better than good actually, she decided, craning her neck until he turned the corner.

She sat in her rocker, stretched out her long legs and sipped peppermint tea, thinking back through the years. At first she had blamed him for everything and it wasn't really fair, it took two to go at it like rabbits, she had been just as eager as him and sometimes even more so. She grinned and ran a hand through her hair as she remembered the only time they'd got anywhere near a real date. Daryl had stolen Merle's old pick-up and they'd gone for a ride. Singing along to some old song by the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean on the crackly radio and having a competition to see who could whoop the loudest to it, Daryl with a cold bottle of beer along with her hand between his thighs. When he parked the pick-up at the end of a dusty track she'd climbed right on top of him and they'd whooped some more but in a different and more breathless way. He'd gotten a beating from Merle when he took the pick-up home.

She wondered if in the intervening years Daryl had ever fought back. She guessed at some point he must have done. He wasn't a victim, he just wasn't a hardass like Merle. She recalled the day when she had threatened him with the slingshot, the time when she was hurting so bad and feeling so let down by him. But he had been little more than a kid, just like her, and he had tried to help financially. There had been something about the look on his face that day, something that speared the center of her heart, something that was begging for help.

She had finally admitted to herself a year or so back when her marriage collapsed that there was a reason she couldn't love. It had a lot to do with Daryl Dixon.

Daryl

Mary's shop hadn't gone unnoticed by Daryl. When he turned the corner into Main Street he stopped walking and dithered. He was curious, wanting to see what she looked like now. It had to be Mary. People didn't do damn fool stuff like setting up shops in Bentnail- the place was dying. Folks grew up and got out. She'd got out. Why was she back?He paced a bit. What the hell was he going to do if he went back and entered the shop? Buy an overpriced piece of shit that he had no use for? He decided to keep walking, put his head down and quickened his pace, only to walk straight into someone.

'Jesus!' cried the woman.

Daryl recoiled. 'Didn't see ya.'

She stood before him, 'You didn't see me? How could you miss me?' she waved her hands in front of her gigantic stomach, she was about eight months pregnant.

Daryl stared at her bump, 'Don't know.' he muttered, 'you okay?' he stumbled on past her without waiting for a reply.

'Jesus!' repeated the woman.

Merle had seen him collide with the woman and was pissing himself laughing. 'You going along to the baby shower Loretta?'

'Fuck you.' Daryl pouted. 'Let's get out of this dump.'

Mary

The bell on the door jangled and in walked Chrissy Jackson.

'Mary? Mary Travers?' she smiled. 'It really is you.'

'Hell Chrissy' Mary got up out of the rocker, 'You gained weight girl.'

Chrissy smoothed a hand over her belly proudly, 'Yeah, finally, this child's been a long time in the making.'

'I'm happy for you.' Mary said, attempting a hug and getting bounced off, 'Are you okay, you seem a bit breathless?'

'Just the heat of the day.' Chrissy drew the back of her hand over her brow, 'and getting slammed into by Daryl Dixon.'

'Daryl's the father?' Mary gasped, feeling her stomach lurch.

'You're kidding right?' Chrissy looked horrified, 'you think I'd let that s-o-b anywhere near me? This baby is Josh's.'

'Sorry- I just thought when you said he slammed into...' Mary felt her heart settle back down. She propelled Chrissy to the rocker.

'He just walked straight through me on Main Street, like I wasn't there- stoned probably, or coked up, or whatever he's taking these days. I don't know about the fashion in drugs.' Chrissy took out a tissue and began blotting her face.

'He's a user?' Mary asked.

'Hell, I don't know, his brother Merle, he's always trying something new according to Josh, I don't know 'bout Daryl- why are we talking 'bout the Dixon brothers anyhow?' Chrissy said, 'Look at this place, this darling little shop, look at you!'

Later, as Mary handed Chrissy some peppermint tea, Chrissy asked, 'Why did you come back here?'

'I don't know.' said Mary.'It just felt like it was time.'

.

Daryl and Mary(Sunday)

He sat in the creek naked, his clothes floating around him. It was as good a place as any to cool down and get clean. The old shower in the shack was broken. Most of the stuff in the shack was broken. Daryl scowled before splashing water up around his face. The midday sun shone down on him relentlessly- the mercury still climbing. So, Mary, he thought. How was he going to figure a way to see her without her seeing him? He couldn't think of one. He hadn't had another woman since her. He'd forgotten what a woman felt like. Merle had come home with a couple of prostitutes one night a few years back and tried to make out that he was doing his baby brother a favour. Daryl had sidestepped the tired looking hooker and gone out to sleep in the woods. Merle beat on him the next day for the money wasted, he'd tried to use both of the women but hadn't been able to keep it up long enough. Daryl wondered if Merle had ever had a woman that wasn't a hooker.

The sun seemed to be concentrating on his head, boiling his brain. He dipped under the water and held his breath, when he finally came up for air, he thought he was seeing an apparition.

'Hi!' Mary called.

For a split second he wondered if he should pretend not to recognise her. It would make him look stupid though, she really hadn't changed much, she was a little more curvy, and her hair was slightly shorter, but she looked pretty damn good to Daryl.

'Hi' he replied, trying to sound offhand.

'What the water like?' she called.

'Wet' he said.

She reached down and removed her shoes. She was wearing a thin white cotton dress, 'Mind if I join you?' she shouted.

'I'm about done.' Daryl said hurriedly, grabbing at his floating clothes, his eyes widening as she walked into the creek with the dress on. Crazy woman, what was she thinking? He tried to back away and not let her see how much he was panicking.

When she reached him she smiled, 'Hey'

'Hey' he answered in his deepest voice.

'How's things?' she asked.

He tried not to look at the water lapping at the thin cotton on the bodice of her dress, 'Same ole...' he tailed off awkwardly.

'Yeah things don't change a whole lot around here do they?' she said softly, ''cept you look all grown up Daryl. Put on a bit of muscle,' she stared at his shoulders, the only part of him above the water, her expression darkened a bit, 'few more scars too.' She reached out to touch one of the scars and he moved away fast, dipping back down under the water, clutching his pants and shorts, heading to dry land. When he reached it he knew she was watching him. It was fucking difficult to put on wet clothes but somehow he managed in record time.

He knew he should just keep walking and not look round or wait for her. He pushed his fingers through his flattened hair out of habit, the sun was beating down on him again, sucking the moisture from his body.

'You forgot your shirt.'

She was behind him. As he turned she was wringing his shirt out, her soaking dress clinging to her body, revealing her outline. He grabbed the shirt without thanking her.

'If I didn't know better I'd say you were scared of me.' she joked.

'Last time we met you were all for taking my eye out with a slingshot.' Daryl reminded her, shaking out his shirt and tying it round his neck.

'Lot of water flowed under the bridge since then.' Mary replied.

He wanted to ask what she was doing there, down at the creek- hell- even what she was doing back in Georgia. But he didn't know how so he shrugged, grabbed at the long grass, put a stalk in his mouth and began walking. Mary fell in beside him.

'You married?' she asked. 'Seeing anyone?'

He jerked his head sideways a couple of times. 'You?'

'I was, now I ain't.' she replied, wincing at the rough ground on her bare feet, 'How can you walk so fast bare footed?'

'Don't really think about it.' he said, 'the only thing you have to worry about is not stepping in deer shit.'

He pointed to the ground and she avoided the lump of black bobbly pellets at the last second. 'Thanks for the advice.' she said, 'You still living with your brother?'

Yeah, when he's about.' Daryl said. 'He's away quite a bit.'

Mary nodded, she guessed that Merle's being away wasn't on business, more likely he was in the penitentiary.

'Remember when you stole his pick up?' she laughed.

Daryl grinned shyly, 'Fun fun fun til her daddy takes the t-bird away.'

'Fun fun fun til Merle takes the heap of shit pick up away .' sung Mary softly.

Daryl cleared his throat, 'Yeah, fuck he was mad.'

'You think he was more mad that you were having fun than that you stole the pick-up?' Mary asked.

'Merle don't need no reason to get mad.' Daryl said,looking up at the sky and frowning 'what the...?'.

'Snow goose.' Mary said, proud she was able to identify the bird.

'It shouldn't be here yet.' Daryl said, 'and it shouldn't be alone.'

'Maybe it's a maverick bird.' Mary suggested, 'Nobody tells me when to fly south, hell no!'

'Maybe.' Daryl said.

'Would you like to come over one night for something to eat?' Mary asked.

Daryl felt panicky again. This woman was too confident. But then suddenly some of that confidence seemed to leech into him. He snuck a sideways glance at her and remembered how he had made her moan all those years ago, little freeze frame flashbacks played through his head. He had a feeling she was testing him, expecting him to say no. Figuring that he just a tongue-tied hick who would run away screaming at being propositioned.

'When?' he asked.

He had been right- she looked shocked.

'Thursday- 'bout 7.30?' she said.

'If I ain't got nothing else on.' he said off handedly, 'Don't go fussin' case I don't show.'

'Do you know where I live?' she asked.

He pretended he didn't although he'd heard she lived over the shop.

'You know the old Amity Coffee shop?' she said, 'I live above.' She stopped walking. 'I'd better go, need to check on my mom.'

Daryl chewed on his grass, his expression arcane.

'It was good catching up with you.' Mary said, 'Even if the talking part was a bit one-sided.'

'I can talk up a storm when I want to.' Daryl told her.

'I know' she whispered, 'I remember. See ya thursday.'

.

When he got home a hour or so later Merle was watching one of the news channels with an uncharacteristically horrified look on his face. The first reports of the crazy people attacking and eating other people had began to trickle through.

.


	2. Chapter 2

2. Already Gone

Merle was loading the pick-up with stuff. The tv news reporters told people to head to Atlanta. Daryl couldn't understand Merle, he seemed wired in a 'bring it on' kinda way. Daryl reckoned they'd be safer staying where they were or heading further up into the mountains. They hadn't even seen a walker up close yet. The tv reporter advised shooting them in the head, claiming it was the only way to stop them.

Daryl waited for Merle to use the bathroom before stealing the hog and riding into town. He wanted to check on Mary. That brought the first bad shock. Mary's shop had been raided and smashed up, the doors hung off their hinges. As Daryl crept upstairs clutching his crossbow, he already knew she wasn't there. His hunch was right, the apartment was unscathed but empty. There were bodies strewn all over Bentnail, and the dead were walking the dusty streets.

Daryl rode through a walker on the way to Mary's mother's house. Old Abraham Brady. Brady's face was half torn off and he grabbed at Daryl just before sliding under the wheel of the hog.

'Jesus shit!' Daryl said under his breath, the smell that floated up from Brady was like a million rotten eggs. He accelerated and bits of flesh and blood flew up from the tires. When he reached the house, he got off the hog and ran up onto the porch.

'Mary!' he banged on the screen door, 'You in there?'

The house was secured. Daryl went around peering through the windows. It looked empty. 'Mary!' he said in a low voice, his mouth up against the door, 'We're leaving, you need a ride?'

He couldn't imagine Mary coming along in the pick-up with Merle but he couldn't leave her behind either. Every woman walker he saw he expected to be her. But none of them were. Plenty of familiar faces but none of them Mary or her mom. He walked speedily around to the backyard and kicked at the basement flap. Locked. He sighed and frowned. There wasn't time to break in and look for her but it felt wrong just walking away. He crept back to the front of the house.

Merle made up his mind for him by screeching in the pick-up, 'What the hell are ya doin'?' he asked as he grabbed the hog, 'Help me load this.'

'Lookin' for someone.' Daryl said quietly as they hoisted the hog into the back of the pick-up.

Merle shot an approaching walker in the head with apparent relish, 'Got ya, ya piece of shit.' he shook his head at Daryl, 'Seems you're too late. Maybe she's already gone.'

'Looks like it.' Daryl replied.

'Never seen this town so active.' Merle observed, getting in the pick up.

Daryl got in the pick-up too. Merle was right. The townsfolk looked they were taking part in an early Halloween parade and they'd all come as extras from Night of the Living Dead. Daryl pinched hard on his wrist. It was like a sick dream. All these people he'd known most of his life. Sam Benson from the hardware store chewing on Ike Crowley's intestines: not even pausing to look up as Merle and Daryl drove by, old Mrs Hunter in her blood splattered nightdress, walking unsteadily, one arm completely gone. It was crazy. Daryl kept looking for Mary walking among them even though he didn't want to see her. But he knew that if he did see her and she had turned into one of them he'd put an arrow through her head. It would be the least he could do for her.

Merle and Daryl sped out of Bentnail, taking out a few walkers on the way.

.

'You should have gone with him.' Mary's mother Clary whispered, as they heard the pick-up screaming away from the front of the house.

They had been hiding in the bathroom when Daryl rolled up on the hog, and Mary had crept to the attic and peeked out of the tiny window. Bless Daryl Dixon, she thought, as she looked down at him, she would never forget he had tried to help her.

Mary smiled at her mother, lying on the bundled quilts on the floor of the bathroom, her face waxy white and beaded with perspiration, 'I'm not leaving you.'

'You know it won't be long.' Clary said, ' You had a chance...'

'No-one has a chance out there.' Mary replied, kneeling down and patting her mom's brow with a cool cloth, 'I need to be here with you.' She slathered more antiseptic cream on the bite on her mom's leg, knowing it was too little too late.

They'd tried to get to the church. Verna Peters had phoned just before the power went off forever and said everyone was gathering there. But Clary couldn't walk very fast and this thing had crawled out of the gutter and grabbed her. Mary recognised the thing as once having been Zack Myers,Bentnail's answer to Kurt Cobain. He had an axe embedded in his head, but it didn't seem to hold him back any, and he sunk his teeth into Clary's leg before Mary managed to finish him off with a gun she'd found on the street. She'd never shot anything before and almost threw up as Zack's head exploded. They'd given up on making it to the church and gone back into the house. Somehow Mary had managed to get Clary up the staircase. She would have liked to carry on up to the attic where she felt they would be safer but her Mom couldn't take any more.

'When I go you have to make sure I'm gone for good.' Clary told Mary, 'I don't want to become one of them.'

'As soon as your leg gets better we're going to Atlanta.' Mary replied.

But only a few hours later, her mother closed her eyes for the final time. Mary stared down at her in disbelief, knowing what she had to do. She couldn't do it. She picked up the gun and stared at it, not even knowing if there were any bullets left. A whimper escaped from her lips, how could she put a bullet in her own mother's head? Still gripping the gun tightly, she made a tour of the house,shaking her head and breathing erratically. Outside on the street the dead were lumbering owned Bentnail now, there was no-one else left, except maybe the few who had made it to the church. Mary somehow got back up to the bathroom, held the gun to her mother's temple, closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger. There was at least one bullet in the gun. Her mother was truly gone. Mary prayed frantically, 'Forgive me, forgive me.'

She managed to stand on shaky legs and looked out of the window. The dead were curious. They had gathered near the house after hearing the gun. Mary left the bathroom and closed the door. She staggered to the back of the house and looked down into the yard. It was empty. She knew her only hope of reaching the church was through the back yards, if she could get to the end of the street she only had a short distance in the open and she would be there in the church with living breathing people. It was her only chance. She wasn't sure she still wanted to live, but she didn't want to end up like the zombies on the street.

She left the house, checking to make sure all was clear before stepping off the back porch, clutching the gun. The first few yards were easy enough, but there was a fence around the Madson's house, Mary grabbed a trashcan and set it against the fence, and was about to step up on it when something grabbed her leg, she stifled a scream and turned to see Debra Madson, in a pink quilted housecoat. Debra, who had been so weak and sickly in life, seemed to have found strength in death, and she wasted no time in sinking her teeth into Mary's arm. Mary fought her off and Debra fell to the ground. She brought up the gun and squeezed the trigger but nothing happened. Her luck had run out. She dropped the useless gun, grabbed the trashcan lid and smashed it down on Debra over and over until the woman stopped moving. She looked at her bleeding arm and wanted to throw up. Debra had torn a strip of Mary's flesh away.

'Oh no, no,no,no' she wailed.

Somehow she made it back to the house and locked the door. There was no point in going to the church. No-one was going to let her in now she was wounded. She could feel the poison seeping through her veins, her arm felt like it was on fire. she grabbed a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator and scurried upstairs to her childhood bedroom. Already her head was swimming. She took a long swallow of Coke, laid down on the bed and waited to die, as dusk descended outside she lost consciousness.

.

Merle was watching Daryl with a look of unconcealed scorn. Dummy! Look at him acting like he belonged. Talking to that weirdo Dale about squirrel stew. Merle made a point of keeping his distance from the group, he wasn't planning on hanging around long enough to get acquainted,'cept maybe with them blonde sisters, either one or both, he wasn't fussed. He made himself comfortable on his vantage point on the edge of camp, seeing all and hearing much. There was a lot to be said for keeping quiet and gathering information. A muscle in his jaw moved as Shane and Lori stepped out from their tent smiling at her kid, Lori brushing something from the thighs of her jeans, Shane punching his fist lightly on her son's chest and then touching the boy's hair in a fatherly manner. 'Cept he wasn't the kid's father, no sir, he was just banging long tall Lori, keeping her sweet now her husband was dead.

Merle turned his attention to another family ; big man Ed with his mouse of a wife and the scaredy little girl. Merle had no time for Ed, who reminded him of his pa, and even less time for his waste of space wife and child. They added nothing to the group. He followed Carol's gaze and was surprised to see she was staring at Daryl's butt. He grinned nastily. Carol realised Merle was watching her and averted her gaze. Daryl came over to Merle.

'Goin' now.' he said unsurely.

'You feel you have to ask my fuckin' permission to hunt a few damn squirrels?' Merle grunted.

'No.' Daryl replied, 'If you get to the city will you keep an eye out?'

'For what?' Merle pretended to be dumb.

'Mary.' Daryl mumbled.

'If I find her, little brother, I'll take real good care of her for ya.' Merle laughed, 'You think I'm gonna find her?'

'No.' Daryl said, 'Just if you did, you'd want to bring her back here.'

'You know I can't promise nuthin'' Merle said.'You need to set your mind to other stuff, like survivin' this shit.'

Daryl nodded and turned away.

Merle spat into the dust. If that whore had reached Atlanta and he came across her he was putting a bullet in her head.

.

Mary woke the next morning and knew she had a fever. She chugged back more Coke and managed to crawl to the other bathroom, the one not covered in pieces of her mom, knowing there was more antiseptic cream in the cabinet. Her mother had kept a good supply of such things. As she applied the cream she studied her wound; it had a greenish tinge. Was she beginning to rot away? She found some aspirin and took three, washing them down with water. Screams came from outside but she hadn't the strength to get to the window and look to see what was going on. Her head was swimming. Somehow she made it back to the bedroom and onto the bed. For two days and nights she fought the fever, barely conscious for almost all of the time. Her mom appeared to her in a dream.

'You're a fighter, you'll be ok.' she smoothed Mary's sodden hair.

'There's no point in fighting.' Mary told her, 'I'm waiting to die.'

'You have to fight.' Clary said, 'Promise me you'll fight to live.'

Later she dreamed Daryl appeared and stared down at her silently, 'Why don't you talk to me?' she begged.

'I can talk up a storm...' he whispered.

'Well talk it up then!' she yelled. But he disappeared.

On the third morning she opened her eyes and watched the sunlight making patterns on the wallpaper. Her mind had cleared, she felt surprisingly normal. She moved her arm. The burning had stopped, there was a crust on the wound and the green tinge had gone. She reached out for the Coke bottle and drained it before sitting up carefully. She was hungry. Starving hungry. She stood up and went to the window. There were no walkers on the street, plenty of well chewed corpses, but nothing was moving.

In the kitchen she ate dry Cheerios and drank more Coke. She put a peppermint t-bag in a cup and added bottled water but it didn't seep a whole lot, the flavor was barely there. She needed to heat water but didn't dare light a fire in case it attracted walkers. Still hungry, she went into the pantry and found Saltines and canned tuna.

In her whole life she had never felt so alone. She had to get out of Bentnail and find other survivors, it didn't occur to her that she had been bitten and therefore would be seen as a threat. After cleaning herself up and changing her clothes, she packed a bag with food, the contents of the bathroom cabinet and more clothes. She also grabbed the metal tool her mom used to damp down the wood stove, it was the closest thing to a weapon she could find. She checked the street outside. Her mom's car was in the garage but the doors were powered by electricity and she didn't know if she would be able to open them manually. There was a small Honda out on the street, the driver's door open with the mutilated corpse of the driver half in and half out of it. She knew the Honda was her best chance, there was no point in looking for armored tanks around Bentnail. She took a deep breath and unlocked the front door, checking the street right and left before leaving the porch.

The Honda driver had no legs, just a bloody mass where they would have begun. Mary tried not to chuck up as she pulled at his shoulders, all the time expecting his eyes to fly open and his hands to grab her, but he obligingly fell from the vehicle, the sound of his torso as it hit the road nothing more than a dull plop. The seat was messed up with blood and gore, but Mary had no choice, she had to get in the Honda and pray it would get her out of Bentnail.

She became aware of a scraping sound behind her, and turned to see a walker, she didn't recognise him, but he was a busy determined boy patrolling Bentnail.. Her heart pounded crazily as she jumped into the Honda and pulled the door shut, expecting the walker to pull at it and drag her back out. She turned the key and the engine sprang to life, her eyes darted around to find the safety lock. She was too scared to look out of the driver window. Any minute now he would be trying to get the door open. But nothing happened. the walker walked right on by the Honda. Mary could barely breathe, she sat as still as she could, thinking any slight sound or movement would alert him to her a minute or so she found the courage to lift her head enough to check the rear view mirror. The walker was shuffling off down the street.

Mary exhaled and pushed down on the pedal. She was on her way to Atlanta.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Inferiority Complex

.

Mary was nearing the city. She had avoided walkers until early one morning, when, groggy with sleep, she had stepped out of the car without double checking for company, and a walker had stumbled past her. She was so desperate for the bathroom the shock of seeing the walker up close and personal sent a stream of warm urine gushing down her leg. The walker was an ugly sonofabitch, Mary reckoned he was plug ugly even before he got dead and smashed up around the face and neck, the way his bulging eye socket homed in on her made her want to scream with hysterical laughter. Because this just wasn't happening. There was no way she was stuck here on the highway, surrounded by body parts and zombies. But the early morning sun streamed hotly down onto the side of her head and told her different, the world was sparkling and and rested, ready for a new day.

'Morning!' Mary said to the squash neck, deciding insanity was floating pretty near by.

He blanked her and shuffled on.

She stared after him in amazement, why had he ignored her? She grabbed a change of clothes from her bag and headed to the gas station where she hoped there would be a usable restroom. As she crossed the road she was ignored by more walkers. They were herding, resolutely heading for some unknown destination, and she wasn't invited. She pushed at the gas station door but it wouldn't budge. A figure appeared from the murk and unbolted the door.

'What the hell are you doing?' A bulky blonde guy in his late twenties wearing a blood smeared t-shirt pulled her in and bolted the door just as a walker appeared.

He jumped back as the walker began pounding and trying to get at him, 'Jesus' he uttered, grabbing Mary and pulling her down the aisle into the darkness at the rear of the store, 'What the hell are you? Why did they let you through?'

'Bad meat I guess.' Mary replied shakily. 'they don't seem interested in me.' She saw the guy's nose twitch, 'I smell pretty high, I pissed my pants. I'm Mary by the way.'

'Stu' he took a step away from her, 'yeah you reek something awful.'

Mary managed a weak smile, 'Hi Stu.I was looking for some wipes to get cleaned up.'

'Are you wounded?' he asked suddenly, stepping further away from her.

She showed him her arm, the teethmarks like a faint tattoo, 'I was bitten,the wound turned green and I got sick, but I healed.'

Stu looked bullish, 'Folks don't heal if they get attacked by walkers.'

'I did.' Mary said, staring him out.

He took a package of wipes from a nearly empty shelf and slid them towards her, 'You get cleaned up and then you leave.' he said. 'You can't stay here, what if you get sick again? You think you can hang around 'til you want a ready meal?'

The door to the gas station was being bombarded by walkers. Mary shrugged, 'Looks like neither of us can stay here.' She grabbed the wipes and headed to the restroom.

As she cleaned up she pondered, there was something about Stu she didn't trust. She'd known his type before. She thought of High School and Brad Ryan. Yeah that was it. Big Brad Ryan, the meathead jock, leader of the Bentnail Bonecrushers. She remembered how he and his gang had bullied lesser mortals in the senior year. They hadn't bullied Daryl though, even though he was an outsider. When he bothered to turn up to class with worn clothes and unexplained injuries the Bonecrushers kept a respectful distance and Daryl just acted like they didn't exist. She smiled as she remembered Daryl at school, how she'd worshipped from afar, and she also remembered the first time their eyes had met and held, and she had known he was going to be the one- the first.

When she had cleaned up as best she could and changed her clothes, she went back into the store to find Stu chucking junk food into a backpack. It was eerily quiet.

'Have they gone?' she whispered.

'Yeah, something else took their interest.' he said, grabbing fistfuls of Snickers . 'Plenty more where they came from though, you can bet on it.'

'So are we leaving together?' Mary asked.

Stu looked up at her and sighed, 'Be straight with me, you got bit, got sick, and then what happened?'

'I don't know, I kept losing consciousness.' Mary said, 'and then I woke up again and I felt okay, kinda normal...where are they going?' she watched the walkers as they headed down the highway.

'The city I guess.' Stu rubbed the three day old stubble on his chin.

'Atlanta? I thought it was a safe zone?' Mary said.

'No way.' Stu shuddered, 'It's crawling with 'em, they're everywhere. I watch people go by, heading that way , they don't come back.' He moved on to the Nutrageous bars.

'Hope you're not diabetic.' Mary remarked.

'High energy.' Stu muttered, he turned and gave her a cursory glance, 'Been thinking, maybe we should try and get to the CDC. If there's anyone still in there they could check you out, find out what's going on with you, why you're...'

'...A freak?' Mary said.

'You said it lady.' Stu replied.

There was something unsettling in his expression, and Mary felt less than comfortable. She wondered how she was going to get away from him because suddenly she didn't want his company, the CDC sounded like a good option.

'Ok, the CDC.' she said, 'We need to leave now while it's quiet out there.'

She half hoped that a walker might get him as they left the gas station and headed to the Honda but she lucked out and they both made it safely to the vehicle.

'You drive.' she said.

Stu realised there was no time to argue and they got in the car, before they'd even turned the ignition a walker was clawing at the door, splattering it with blood-laced saliva.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck!' Stu panicked.

'Stop pissing around and go!' Mary said, regretting letting him drive.

The Honda lurched forward but the walker held fast. As they gathered speed his legs fell away but the upper half of his body resolutely clung to the car. 'Don't fuckin' believe this is happenin' ' Stu whimpered.

'Believe it.' Mary replied as they drove through another walker, and another. 'Do you know the way to the CDC?' she could see his hands shaking, his knuckles white as they slipped about over the steering wheel. He was a typical big mouthed bully, all the bravado fallen away now he didn't have his buddies to back him up.

He hadn't appeared to have heard her question, or if he had he wasn't going to reply.

As they finally reached a clear stretch of Interstate 85 he seemed to relax a little, but Mary still worried that his mind had gone. He had a wild eyed look about him. Eventually he looked at her, 'Am I doin' the right thing bringing you to the CDC?' he asked, 'See, I bin thinking, seems to me you ain't either one thing or another, you ain't yet one o' them, and you ain't exactly human no more neither.'

'I have more humanity in me than you do.' Mary replied icily, fingering her gun.

'What if the CDC is untainted?' Stu went on, 'Maybe the great and the good of Georgia are holed up in there unscathed.'

'Let's wait and see shall we?' Mary suggested, she couldn't wait to reach the CDC, and she had decided whatever happened there she was dumping Stu.

In the end she didn't need to dump him because when they arrived at the CDC and got as near to the building as they could in the car she could see he was frozen with fear.

'We need to get out of the car.' she told him, as the walkers stumbling around the grounds became inquisitive and began heading towards the Honda.

He shook his head, 'I'll never make it to the entrance- best chance for me is to keep driving.'

She reacted speedily, 'Okay, but you need to drive fast and not stop for anything.', she opened the door of the car.

'Get out.' Stu's eyes were wide with panic.

'Good luck.' she said insincerely.

She couldn't quite believe it as she got out of the car and a walker brushed past her, actually touching her, but ignoring her, intent on reaching the car and Stu- live meat. They really saw her as one of their own, she didn't know how or why, maybe it was her smell- maybe she was dead meat like they were.

As the walkers shuffled towards the car she walked to the CDC. She heard Stu revving up and the Honda screech away, ploughing through walkers. With a feeling of apprehension she pressed the intercom at the door.

.

'You need to be in isolation' Edwin Jenner told her, eying her with suspicion. He had let her into the building and listened to her story before taking a blood test.

'There's no-one else here- is there?.' Mary protested, looking around.

'You're one of them.' Edwin said, 'At the moment you behave in a civil fashion but that will change. You're a carrier- quite fascinating. Would you allow me to do some more tests?'

'Do I have a choice?' Mary asked.

Dr Jenner poured her a cup of coffee, 'Choices are luxuries we can't afford these days.'

After she'd had a shower he took her to a cell. It was a pleasant comfortable room but when the door was locked there was no escape, so it was a cell. He smiled sadly and she saw a tiny hint of something scary in his eyes but she couldn't fight him. She was locked in this building with him and he was stronger than she was. She had nowhere to run.

He nodded to the bookshelf. 'Maybe War and Peace?'

'I don't understand why you're doing this.' she said, 'What possible threat am I to you?'

'You're a walker in waiting.' he said, 'You may not feel like you are but you are. Your blood is infected, your brain will undergo chemical changes.I'm sorry Mary, there's nothing I need more than company, but it's better this way, I can't let myself form attachments.'

'What happened here? Why are you all alone?' Mary asked.

Jenner smiled and shrugged, 'It's just the way things worked out. Everything seemed pretty hopeless and I guess they just thought death was a better option.'

'And you?' Mary asked, chilled by his words.

'I always hoped there might be a breakthrough, that someone might come along, someone like you.' he replied, 'I'm a scientist, I study diseases, it's all I know.'

'And now you've got your guinea pig.' Mary uttered.

Jenner nodded, 'Looks like it.' He let the door go and it shut with a clunk that made her heart plummet.

.

She tried to keep track of the days as they passed, but it was difficult. She wondered if Jenner drugged her, although he insisted he didn't; poking and prodding and extracting her blood, scanning her brain, crouching over his keyboard as his fingers flew over it, inputting data.

'You don't have anyone to compare me with do you?' she said one day.

He looked startled, 'I do.'

'I don't see anyone.' she looked around the empty laboratory, 'Just me and you, with Vi the computer chipping in occasionally.'

He looked like he might cry, his mouth working uselessly, 'I had another volunteer.' he managed to utter after a good few seconds had gone by.

'What happened to him?' Mary asked.

'Her.' Jenner said hoarsely.

'What happened to her?' Mary asked.

'She...' he turned his back on her. 'Could do with a cup of coffee.'

Mary poured coffee from the jug and took it over to him. 'Who was she?'

'My wife.' he bit hard on his lip and grimaced.

'So she...she died?' guessed Mary.

Jenner nodded.

'I'm sorry.' Mary reached out to touch his arm but he moved away. 'So Doctor, what's my prognosis?' she asked.

He shook his head, 'Like I said you're a carrier and quite an enigma. You are infected but stable, for last few weeks I've seen no evidence of deterioration either in cells or brain function, and this in itself is a breakthrough.'

'So you want to keep observing and using me as a pin keep?' Mary asked.

'You don't exactly have anything better to do.' Jenner reminded her.

'I could leave.' Mary said testing the water, 'I'm getting cabin fever here. We could both leave.'

He shook his head, 'I won't be leaving.'

'Do you have any hope of discovering a cure?' Mary asked.

He shook his head, 'It's all trial and error. There are a few things I could try, but you would have to agree to be the guinea pig. I can't just inject a cocktail of drugs into you without your permission. Look at at HIV, it took years and teams of scientists to develop viable treatments, and even then it wasn't a cure as such.'

'I agree.' Mary said, 'I give you permission.'

Jenner looked unsure, 'There's so little time.'

'Why?' Mary asked.

'There just is.' he replied, 'Go to your room and think long and hard about it. If you still want to go ahead we will. But I need you to be sure. You could live for a long time just as you are now, or the infection could suddenly mutate and you could turn. It's the unknown Mary, and very scary.'

She smiled sadly, 'Or you could kill me and cut my head off right now.'

He looked horrified, 'I hope it won't come to that.'

'I'm sure about the tests, I don't need to think about it.' Mary insisted, 'We start tomorrow ok?'

.

The next day she found her door locked. Her room had turned into a cell again. When he finally came to her Jenner seemed to have been doing some serious thinking himself, he let himself into her room and it clicked tightly shut behind him.

'Breakfast.' he said, placing a tray on the cabinet.

'Why in here?' Mary frowned. They usually ate breakfast together in the lab.

He picked up a syringe from the breakfast tray, 'Your first cocktail.' he explained, 'I think you'll be more comfortable in here. You may feel a little unwell.'

She didn't know why she trusted him but she knew without him she had zero hope. She was infected, and the other infected already excepted her as one of them, it was only a matter of time before her brain burned out and she became exactly like them. She held out her arm and he swabbed it before inserting the needle. She felt a sting and coldness and she looked up into his earnest face.

He smiled nervously and looked over at the tray, 'Eat' he said, before leaving the room.

.

She thought it was strange that he didn't come back to the room to check on her. As the hours passed she began to get worried, but the drugs made her sleepy and she mostly napped the day away. Once when she woke she thought she heard voices, and crept to the door, pressing her ear against it. She thought it must be night, but had lost track of time. She was hungry and needed the bathroom. She called out but he didn't come. In the end she used the trash bin to piss in, and then called for Jenner again.

.

'Did you hear something?' Daryl said to T-dog as they met by the restroom. They had arrived at the CDC earlier that day and had been made welcome and given food and drink.

T-dog shrugged and looked around, 'No.' he listened. They heard Carl and Lori laughing in their room down the corridor.

'I thought I heard someone calling.' Daryl lifted his bottle and drank from it. Although he'd consumed a lot of liquor his senses weren't blunted. He was still as alert as a cougar. T-dog knew one thing about hard to get to know Daryl, and that one thing was that he didn't miss a trick-ever.

As they listened they heard the sounds of the rest of the group getting ready for bed.

'What did you hear?' T-dog asked.

'Let me out of here.' Daryl said, 'A weak tired voice, I'm sure the words were 'Let me out of here.'

'We need sleep man.' T-dog advised.

'Yeah.' Daryl nodded.

Later in the night he woke in a panic from a dream where a zombie was nuzzling his neck before going in for a bite. He rubbed his neck on waking. Shit, he could feel the graze of the teeth.

'Please let me out.' the voice was faint and ghostly and familiar.

Daryl shot up in his bunk. It sounded like Mary. He listened but heard nothing except the rattle and hum of the pipes behind the wall. Maybe he'd dreamt it. He tried to sleep again but it wouldn't come so he got up and went prowling.

When he came to a corridor that he hadn't been down before, adjacent to their sleeping quarters, he walked as quietly as possible down it giving a gentle tap on each door. At the far end of the corridor he tapped and immediately heard her.

'Edwin? Please- what's going on?'

He leaned into the door, 'Mary?'

'D...Daryl?' her voice cracked completely.

Daryl quit trying to be quiet, he turned and yelled up the corridor, 'Rick! Dale! C'mon here!'

The others, led by Andrea, streamed down the corridor to see what all the noise was about, closely followed by Jenner, they were all mussy from sleep except Jenner, who didn't appear to have been to bed.

''He's got someone locked away in here.' Daryl told Andrea as he tried to force the door.

'You need to leave her alone.' Jenner said, 'She's sick.'

'A walker?' Rick asked.

Jenner nodded.

'She's not a walker, she spoke to me.' Daryl said, 'I know her...' he looked at the others, 'It's a woman from Bentnail- Mary. Mary?' he shouted through the door, 'Say something.'

'Please let me out of here.' Mary yelled back.

Rick looked at Jenner, 'Sure don't sound like a walker.'

'She's a walker.' Jenner repeated, trying to block the doorway.

'A talking walker.' Rick shook his head at Jenner, 'Open the door.'

'She's too much of a risk.' Jenner warned, but then he gave in, 'Oh do what you want, what does it matter now anyway, just be aware that she's different to you.' he held out the pass card that opened the door.

Daryl grabbed it and slid it though the slot before pushing the door open.

Mary was dishevelled, and unsteady on her feet, swaying as she stared at Daryl. The others peered at her. She sure didn't look anything like a walker. She was just a small dark haired woman in dirty jeans looking scared and overwrought.

'You ok ?' Daryl asked, and the others were all amazed at his gentle tone. He held out his hand to her and she grabbed it like a lifeline. As she stepped forward the others shrunk back as though she might suddenly turn into one of the flesh munchers.

Daryl looked around at them scornfully, 'Can't y'see he's lyin', she's like us- no different.'

'She's not.' Jenner said, 'She was bitten, she should have turned. Instead she's a carrier and a danger...'

'Bullshit.' Daryl said as the others stepped back even further.

'Daryl' Rick spoke into his ear, 'Maybe we should just leave her where she is. Let Jenner look after her.'

'Why did he have her locked up?' Daryl replied, looking accusingly at Jenner, 'If it was just she and you, why lock her up?'

Lori was pulling Carl away, and Andrea, Shane and Dale were also edging back down the corridor.

'I'm trying a few experiments.' Jenner explained, 'and I'm not sure of the outcome.' When he saw the rage on Daryl's face he added quickly, 'she agreed to it.'

'I didn't know you were going to lock me up again.' Mary said shakily. 'You didn't even leave me a pot to piss in.'

'They arrived.' Jenner said, gesturing around the dwindling group. 'I guess I panicked.'

'I need the bathroom.' Mary said, staggering slightly as she stepped forward.

'I'll go with.' Daryl said, protecting her from the group even though they were keeping well away from her.

The others watched them walking down the corridor. Rick looked at T-dog and Glenn and shook his head.

'Too much of a risk man.' T-dog said.

The others nodded, they could see Daryl standing guard outside the bathroom.

'So what are we gonna do with her?' Rick asked.

'Lock her back up.' Jenner said.

Shane came back towards the group, 'Only one solution to this.' he said, bringing out his gun. 'She's a time bomb.'


End file.
